Air pollution in India is no longer a joke. It isn’t a random problem either that can be simply shoved under the carpet. None of us are children or entrants to kindergarten that one needs to hold our hands and teach us about why one needs to be wary of air pollution. Truth is, the India you and I are a part of today is a different country altogether. People are troubled by the likes of the COVID 19 virus, whilst there already are a ton of other diseases and aliments such as cholera, flu, typhoid, malaria and whatnot.
By the way, we forgot airborne and waterborne diseases in India. And if you thought that the trouble was over, then hey- wake up and smell the coffee.
The trouble is only going to get worse, more so when we speak about the situation of air pollution in India.
What are perhaps still to realise and come to terms with the fact that the crisis of air pollution in India is getting out of hand. There are children whose parents are already beginning of to worry about heavy breathing being all too apparent amid young kids, kids who are actually toddlers.
One part of the crisis could well be that none of us are yet to be huge fans of sanitisation, we spend tens and thousands of money on luxury goods not on air purifiers.
The other end of the spectrum seems to suggest that we are still head over heals in live with cars, the key pollutants in massively sized cities such as Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and others. The switch to electric cars, promising that it may be and plausible that it is, has not yet managed to strike India’s chord- or has it?
If there was ever a time to say no to big polluting cars then it is now. Life is a gift. It is a precious one and it beckons us to prioritise our health now, more than ever!
Air pollution in India was always getting out of hand since 2019 but now it is reaching ever dangerous levels.
Here is what the Hindu happened to highlight about a problem that must be seriously addressed without us wasting any time whatsoever:
India’s air pollution levels have expanded geographically over time and increased so much in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh that an average person is now losing an additional 2.5 to 2.9 years of life expectancy, according to a new report.
India is the most polluted country in the world, with more than 480 million people or about 40% of its population living in the Indo-Gangetic plains in the north where pollution levels regularly exceed those found anywhere else in the world by an order of magnitude, stated the University of Chicago’s Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report.
The study by the varsity’s Energy Policy Institute ascertains how much longer a person can live if they breathe clean air.
Residents of northern India are on track to lose more than nine years of life expectancy if pollution levels of that of 2019 persist as the region experiences the most extreme levels of air pollution in the world, it said.